Using quick response code to generate an electronic consent database

ABSTRACT

Electronic consent for telemarketing calls can be obtained by soliciting consent from an individual using two-dimensional barcodes, such as quick response (“QR”) codes. The QR code can be printed on an advertisement and read by a smart phone. The reading of the QR code causes communication to be originated from the individual&#39;s smart phone for the purpose of requesting the individual to be contacted for a particular purpose. The communication can be construed by the enterprise as providing electronic consent for the enterprise to contact the individual with a subsequent telemarketing call. The sender&#39;s telephone number and other relevant information can be stored in an electronic consent database used to ensure compliance with appropriate marketing regulations.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/461,541, filed on May 1, 2012, and entitled Using Quick ResponseCodes to Generate an Electronic Consent Database, which is related toU.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/461,513, now U.S. Pat. No.8,548,133, filed on May 1, 2012, and entitled Managing ElectronicConsent For Calling Campaigns, and U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/461,515, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,526,922, filed on May 1, 2012, entitledIntegrating Two-Dimensional Barcodes and Embedded Links With Call CenterOperation, the contents of which are incorporated by reference in theirentirety for all that they teach.

BACKGROUND

Telemarketers may originate outbound calls to a list of telephonenumbers from a call center on behalf of a client (e.g., an enterprise)to execute a calling campaign. The purpose of such calling campaigns maybe telemarketing, informational, or other aspects related to providingcustomer service.

In the past, a call center could contact an individual for atelemarketing campaign on behalf of the enterprise under certainconditions using an autodialed, prerecorded voice call, and provided theenterprise had an established business relationship with the individual.For example, a bank issuing credit cards to its customers could contactthese customers based on having an established business relationshipwith the customer. These calls were exempt from certain federalregulations that would otherwise prohibit pre-recorded telemarketingcalls to the called party. However, new regulations require anenterprise to obtain express consent from the called party prior toinitiating an autodialed, pre-recorded call to the called party. In manyinstances, the called party may find receiving the pre-recorded calluseful and may provide advance explicit consent, including a request,for receiving such calls. Once this consent is obtained, then theenterprise can contact the individual. The enterprise needs to maintainthe explicit consent, and must be able to produce the same if requiredto demonstrate compliance with regulatory requirements.

Obtaining consent from a user can be difficult and expensive. Providinga low cost and efficient approach for obtaining electronic consent istherefore needed to allow enterprises to effectively market theirproduct and services and still comply with relevant regulations. It iswith respect to these and other considerations that the disclosureherein is presented.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Technologies are generally presented herein pertaining to receivingelectronic consent from an individual by an enterprise for the purposeof authorizing a subsequent telemarketing call. The electronic consentmay be provided to the enterprise by the user employing acamera-equipped mobile phone to read a two-dimensional barcode, such asa quick response (“QR”) code, provided on an advertisement. Theelectronic consent is stored in an appropriate form and is associatedwith metadata, allowing the electronic consent to be associated with theindividual's telephone number, and searched and retrieved, if required.After receipt of the consent, then a call can be originated by a callcenter to that individual in compliance with regulations that requireelectronic consent prior to originating a call to the individual.

The subject matter disclosed herein may be implemented as acomputer-controlled apparatus, a method, a computing system, or as anarticle of manufacture such as a computer readable storage medium. Theseand various other features will be apparent from the following DetailedDescription and the associated drawings.

This Summary is provided to exemplify concepts in a high level form thatare further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary isnot intended to identify key or essential features of the claimedsubject matter, nor is it intended that this Summary be used to limitthe scope of the claimed subject matter. Furthermore, the claimedsubject matter is not limited to implementations that address any or alldisadvantages noted in any part of this disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which are notnecessarily drawn to scale, and wherein:

FIG. 1 shows one embodiment of a call center architecture illustratingthe various technologies disclosed herein;

FIG. 2 shows one embodiment of the relationship between an enterprise, ahosted list service provider, and a call center in regards to managingelectronic consent for outbound calls;

FIG. 3 shows one embodiment of the process flow for a hosted listservice provider to manage electronic consent for a list of telephonenumbers;

FIGS. 4A-4C show embodiments of message flows involving components inthe hosted list service provider and the call center;

FIG. 5 shows one embodiment of a data structure used to manageelectronic consent for a list of telephone numbers;

FIG. 6 shows one embodiment of a process flow for updating a databasewith respect to voice and text type calls; and

FIG. 7 is an exemplary schematic diagram of a computer processing deviceused in one embodiment to practice the technologies disclosed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various embodiments for practicing the technologies disclosed herein aredescribed more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which some, but not all embodiments of the technologiesdisclosed are shown. Indeed, the embodiments disclosed herein areprovided so that this disclosure will satisfy applicable legalrequirements and should not be construed as limiting or precluding otherembodiments applying the teachings and concepts disclosed herein. Likenumbers in the drawings refer to like elements throughout.

Exemplary Call Center Architecture

FIG. 1 shows one embodiment of a call center architecture 100illustrating the various technologies disclosed herein. The call centershown in FIG. 1 may process calls that are inbound-only, outbound-only,or a combination of both (sometimes referred to as a “blended” callcenter). Although many aspects of call center operation is disclosed inthe context of voice calls, the call center may process other forms ofcommunication such as facsimiles, emails, text messages, video calls,chat messages, and other forms. Since the call center may handle callsoriginating from a calling party, or initiated to a called party, theterm “party” without any further qualification refers to a personassociated with a call processed by the call center, where the call iseither received from or placed to the party. The term “caller,” if used,will generally refer to a party calling the call center, but in manycases this usage is exemplary. Thus, use of the term “caller” is notintended to necessarily limit the concepts herein to only inbound callsunless the context dictates such.

Inbound voice calls may originate from calling parties using a varietyof phone types. A calling party may originate a call from a conventionalanalog telephone 110 b connected to a public switched telephone network(“PSTN”) 115 using an analog plain old telephone service (“POTS”) line116 a. The calls may be routed by the PSTN 115 and may comprise varioustypes of facilities 116 d, including, but not limited to: T1 trunks,SONET based fiber optic networks, ATM networks, etc. Various types ofrouters, switches, bridges, gateways, and other types of equipment maybe involved in the processing of a call.

Inbound voice calls may also originate from a mobile phone 110 c, suchas a smart phone or tablet, which wirelessly communicates with a mobileservice provider (“MSP”) 112. The voice calls may be routed to the PSTN115 using an integrated services digital network (“ISDN”) interface 116b or other types of interfaces that are well known to those skilled inthe art. The MSP 112 may also route calls as packetized voice, referredto herein as voice-over-IP (“VoIP”) to an Internet provider 123 b usingInternet-based protocols. For convenience, unless indicated otherwise,the term “trunk” refers to any type of facility 116 c, 116 d, or 116 eproviding voice calls to, or from, the call center, regardless of thetype of protocol or technology used. Specifically, a “trunk” is notlimited to time-division multiplexing (“TDM”) technology.

Voice calls may also originate from a calling party employing aso-called “IP phone,” “VoIP phone,” or “soft phone” 110 a. In oneembodiment, this device may comprise a computing device 105, such as alaptop, desktop, or computing tablet, which interfaces with aheadphone/microphone combination, also referred to as a “headset” 106.An IP phone may use a digital voice control protocol and may processpacketized voice data according to various Internet based voiceprotocols, such as session initiated protocol (“SIP”). The call may beconveyed by other types of Internet providers 123 a, such as a cablecompany providing Internet access services over a coaxial cable facility116 e. Those skilled in the art will recognize that a variety ofprotocols and facilities may be used to convey voice calls.

The term “telephone call” as used herein is generally synonymous with a“voice call” unless indicated otherwise. Further, the term “telephonecall” may encompass a voice call originating from any type of device,such as a soft phone 110 a, conventional telephone, 110 b, a mobilephone 110 c, or other device known in the art. The term “call” as usedherein may mean an active instance of two-way communication, an attemptto establish two way communication, or a portion of the two-waycommunication. For example, a user at a conventional telephone 110 b candial a telephone call in an attempt to establish two-way communication,and a call can be said to exist even prior to establishment of a two wayconnection. In another example, a call may be put on hold, and a portionof the call may be referred to as a “call leg” existing between thecaller and certain equipment. A call may comprise a number ofconcatenated call legs, as known to those skilled in the art. In certaincontexts, the call may encompass communications other than voice, e.g.,text, email, video chat, facsimile, etc.

Inbound calls from callers to the call center may be received at anautomatic call distributor (“ACD”) 130. The ACD 130 may be a specializedswitch for receiving and routing inbound calls under various conditions.The ACD 130 may be embodied as a dedicated form of equipment readilyavailable from various manufacturers, or the ACD 130 can be a so-called“soft switch” comprising a suitable programming module executed by aprocessing device to perform the necessary functions. The ACD 130 mayroute an incoming call over call center facilities 165 to an availableagent. The facilities 165 may be any suitable technology for conveyingthe call, including, but not limited to, a local area network (“LAN”),wide area network (“WAN”), ISDN, or conventional TDM circuits. Thefacilities 165 may be the same or different from the facilities used totransport the call to the ACD 130.

Calls may be routed over facilities 165 to an agent for servicing. Thatis, the party may speak with an agent for receiving, for example,customer service. The physical area at which the agent sits is oftenreferred to as an agent “position” and these positions are often groupedinto clusters that are managed by a supervisor, who may monitor callsand the agents' productivity. An agent usually uses a computing device,such as a computer 160 a-160 c and a voice device 161 a-161 c. Thecombination of computer and voice device may be referred to as a“workstation.” Thus, the workstation collectively has a data capabilityand a voice capability, though separate devices may be used. In someinstances, “workstation” may be used in reference to either the data orvoice capability at the agent's position as appropriate for the context.For example, “routing the call to the agent's workstation” means routinga call to one of the voice devices 161 a-161 c at the agent's position.Similarly, “routing the call to the agent” means routing a call to theappropriate equipment at an agent's position.

The voice device used by an agent may be a soft phone device exemplifiedby a headset 161 a connected to the computer 160 a. The soft phone maybe virtual telephone implemented in part by an application programexecuting in a computer. The phone may also comprise an InternetProtocol (“IP”) based headset 161 b or a conventional phone 161 c. Useof the term “phone” is intended to encompass all these types of voicedevices used by an agent, unless indicated otherwise.

An agent typically logs onto their workstation prior to handling calls.This allows the call center to know which agents are available forhandling calls. The ACD 130 may also maintain data of an agent's skilllevel that is used to route a specific call to the agent, or group ofagents having the same skill level. If a suitable agent is not availableto handle a call, the ACD 130 may queue the call for the next availableagent. As can be expected, various algorithms may be employed to processcalls in an efficient manner.

Two types of signaling information may be provided with the inbound callthat the ACD 130 uses in processing the call. The first type ofsignaling information indicates the telephone number dialed by thecaller, and is frequently referred to as “DNIS,” derived from the DialedNumber Identification Service associated with this capability. A callcenter may provide various services, such as sales, customer service,technical support, etc., each of which may be associated with adifferent telephone number (e.g., multiple toll free “800” numbers). TheDNIS can be used by the ACD 130 to determine the purpose of the call,and potentially identify a group of agents having the appropriate skilllevel to handle the call. The ACD 130 may prioritize and route calls toan agent based on the required skill level. Skills-based routing may bea rule-based set of instructions that the ACD 130 uses to handle calls.Skills-based routing may be implemented by the ACD 130, or by the ACD130 interacting with a computer-telephone integrated (“CTI”) server 145.

The CTI server 145 may be incorporated in a call center to controland/or coordinate other components of the call center architecture 100.Specifically, the CTI server may interact with the ACD 130 to coordinatecall processing. Thus, in some embodiments, the CTI server 145 maycontrol the routing of calls from the ACD 130 to the various agentworkstations and/or provide data to other components processing thecall. The CTI server 145 may also provide call reporting functionalitybased on data collected during calls.

The second type of signaling information that may be provided with aninbound call is the calling telephone number, often referred to asautomatic number identification or “ANI.” In one configuration, the ACD130 and/or CTI server 145 may use the ANI of an incoming call toretrieve caller information from a data store 175 and provide the datato the agent's workstation computer along with routing the call to theagent's workstation phone. For example, the ANI can also be used toascertain a party's status (e.g., a “Gold Level” customer warrantingpremium service) to facilitate the ACD 130 routing the call to a selectgroup of agents. The data store 175 can be a database storing records ofcaller information. The data store 175 can be integrated with the CTIserver 145, the ACD 130, or segregated as a standalone database. Thus,the call and associated call data retrieved from the data store 175 arepresented at the agent's headset 161 b and their computer 160 b. Inother embodiments, data may be stored in the data store 175 by theagent, ACD, or other entity.

The ACD 130 may place a call in a queue if there are no suitable agentsavailable, or it may route the call to an interactive voice responseserver (“IVR”) 135 to play voice prompts. These prompts may be in a menutype structure and the IVR 135 may collect and analyze responses fromthe party in the form of dual-tone multiple frequency (“DMTF”) tonesand/or speech. The IVR 135 may be used to further identify the purposeof the call to the CTI server 145, such as prompting the party to enteraccount information, or otherwise obtain information used to service thecall. The IVR 135 may interact with other servers, such as the CTIserver 145 or the data store 175, in order to retrieve or provideinformation for processing the call. In other configurations, the IVR135 may be used to only provide announcements.

The interaction between the ACD 130, IVR 135, CTI server 145, agentcomputers 160 a-160 c, as well as other components, may involve using alocal area network (“LAN”) 170. Other communication configurations arepossible, such as, but not limited to, using a wide area network,wireless network, router, bridge, direct point-to-point links, etc.

When an agent is interacting with a called or calling party, the agentmay use their workstation computer 160 b to further interact with otherenterprise computing systems, such as a customer relationship management(“CRM”) server 140. A CRM server 140 may be used to integrateinformation from various enterprise business systems to facilitate theagent servicing the call. A variety of applications may be provided by aCRM server 140.

In addition to receiving inbound communications, including voice calls,emails, facsimiles, and the call center may also originatecommunications to a called party, referred to herein as “outbound”communications. In some embodiments, a call center may employ a dialer150, such as a predictive dialer, to originate outbound calls on behalfof an agent at a rate designed to meet various criteria. Similar to theother components within the call center architecture 100, the dialer 150may comprise a software module executing on a processing device hardwareplatform.

The dialer 150 is typically configured to dial a list of telephonenumbers to initiate outbound calls, which can be accomplished in oneembodiment by instructing the ACD 130 to originate calls. In someembodiments, the ACD may include functionality for originating calls,and if so, this component may be referred to as a private automaticbranch exchange (“PBX” or “PABX”). In other embodiments (not shown), thedialer 150 may directly interface with voice trunks using facilities 116c, 116 d to the PSTN 115 for originating calls. After the calls areoriginated, a transfer operation by the ACD 130 or by the dialer 150 mayconnect the call with an agent, or place the call in a queue for anavailable agent. In the latter case, announcements or music may beprovided to the party. In various embodiments, the dialer 150 may makeuse of one or more algorithms to determine how and when to dial a listof numbers so as to minimize the likelihood of a called party beingplaced in a queue while maintaining target agent utilization.

Another server that may be employed in a call center is a workforcemanagement (“WFM”) server 155. This server maintains information togenerate agent's schedules to effectively handle inbound/outbound calls.The WFM server 155 may maintain historical call volume information forcall campaigns and forecast expected call volume to predict the numberof agents needed to handle the call volume at a defined service level.The WFM server 155 can then apply information about available agents tothen generate a work roster of agents. In other words, the WFM server155 schedules agents for their work shifts according to the anticipatedneeds of the call campaigns.

Finally, in various embodiments, the call center architecture 100 mayinclude another server 158 to perform various functions. For example,the server 158 could be a quality assurance system that recordscommunication fielded by an agent or allows a manager to monitor a voicesession to ensure calls are being handled correctly.

Although the above components are referenced as “servers,” each may bealso referred to in the art a “processing device”, “unit,” or “system”and may incorporate a local data store, database, or interface with anexternal database. Use of the word “server” does not require thecomponent to interact in a client-server arrangement with othercomponents, although that may be the case. Further, the above componentsmay be located remotely from (or co-located with) other components.Furthermore, one or more of the components may be implemented on asingle processing device to perform the functions described herein. Forexample, in various embodiments, one or more functionalities of the ACD130, the IVR server 135, the CRM server 140, the CTI server 145, and/orthe dialer 150 may be combined into single hardware platform executingone of more software modules. In addition, the call center architecture100 may be provided as a hosted solution, where the call processingfunctionality is provided as a communication service (a so-called“communication as a service” or “CaaS”) to a call center operator. Thus,there is no requirement that the servers identified above actually belocated or controlled by a call center operator.

In addition, the agent positions can be co-located in a single physicalcall center or in multiple physical call centers. The agents can beremotely located from the other components of the call center, and mayalso be remotely located from each other, sometimes referred to as a“virtual call center.” A virtual call center may describe a scenariowhere agents to work at home, using their own computer and telephone asa workstation. In some configurations, a single physical location of thecall center may not be readily identifiable. This may occur when thecall processing functions are provided as a service in a hosted cloudcomputing environment and the agents positions are in their individualresidences.

Those skilled in art will recognize FIG. 1 represents one possibleconfiguration of a call center architecture 100, and that variations arepossible with respect to the protocols, configurations, facilities,technologies, and equipment used. For example, various algorithms andqueuing arrangements maybe defined to efficiently process calls. Inother configurations, the ACD 130 may be configured to process not onlyvoice calls, but also other forms of communication, and performcorresponding call processing functions for email, text, or facsimilecalls. Alternatively, a web server (not shown in FIG. 1) may receive ororiginate email and text communications, as well as interact with othercall center components.

Relationship Between an Enterprise, Hosted List Service Provider, andCall Center

FIG. 2 illustrates one embodiment of the relationship 200 between anenterprise 230, a hosted list service provider (“HLSP”) 250, and a callcenter 270. The enterprise 230 could be any form of commercial business(as well as a non-profit organization or business), and is presumed tohave a list of contact information of individuals that it seeks tointeract with. Interaction may occur by a call center operatedinternally to the enterprise, or a third party external call center.This list may be a list of customers and may include their names,telephone numbers, purchasing history, and other information that may bemaintained by a customer relationship management system or otherinformation system. Although the term “customer” may be used, this termshould not interpreted as being constrained to only referring toindividuals that have purchased, may purchase, or otherwise areconsumers of the enterprise 230. The individual could be, for example, apatient receiving health related information, a student receiving schoolclosing information, etc. Correspondingly, the enterprise could be anon-profit medical clinic, a school, etc. However, for purposes ofillustration and simplicity, the individual providing the electronicconsent is referred to as a “customer” and the organization to which itis provided is the “enterprise.”

The customer may provide the enterprise 230 with express electronicconsent for the purpose for receiving an automatic pre-recorded voicecall, such as for telemarketing purposes. In other embodiments, theconsent may be for receiving a short message service (“SMS”) messagecall, facsimile, email, or other form of communication.

The enterprise 230 may maintain various systems that facilitatereceiving customer contact. These systems may include an email server231 that may receive email communication from the Internet 123. However,the unstructured content of an email message may make accurate computerprocessing difficult, and hence require a human to read the contents.Customers may also interact with a web site hosted by a web server 232.A web site allows customers to easily provide structured information,such as their name and telephone contact information, which can beeasily processed by computing devices. Typically, the email server 231and the web server are connected to the Internet 123 for receivingcustomer originated communication.

Further, the enterprise could also receive instant messages at an SMSserver 234. Although SMS messages may be conveyed by specializedsignaling networks, it is possible in some embodiments for the SMSserver 234 to receive such message via the Internet 123. In particular,gateways for converting messages from an SMS message to an email messageare known to those skilled in the art. Thus, it is possible to receivethe contents of an SMS message in an email. The SMS server 234 mayperform, or be connected to, such a gateway type of function. Otherconfigurations for sending/receiving text messages in the form of SMSare possible.

Other forms of access provided by the enterprise for customer contactmay include an IVR 236. The customer can use the telephone for accessingan automated IVR 236 that may collect customer consent information.Another form of access is a voice system 237 which may direct anincoming call from a customer to an agent (such as those described inFIG. 1). In addition, other forms of communication 238 can be provided.For example, customer input could be provided via written communication,such as facsimile or postal mail. These communications may be processedby the enterprise, with corresponding information entered into customerrelationship management systems.

Each of these communication approaches may involve a distinctinfrastructure for processing the communication. The technology foremail servers, web servers, and IVRs are well known, as are theinfrastructure and technology required to handle voice calls, SMS, orother forms of communication. Each communication approach canpotentially be used by the enterprise 230 to receive “electronicconsent” from an individual indicating authorization to receive futurecommunication. The electronic consent includes digital or electronicsignatures, and would encompass any form of indication sufficient to berecognized as consent. Various forms of express consent are possible,including those identified by the Electronic Signatures in Global andNational Commerce Act (“E-SIGN”). Although this is sometimes referred toby others as “written consent,” this is recognized as allowing voiceconsent to be a recognized form of consent.

For example, an airline may provide information at its web site for apotential customer seeking information on upcoming airfare sales tocertain locations. The individual may indicate preferences forlocations, days, and indicate a telephone contact number for receivingautomated calls. The web site can also expressly request the user toprovide electronic consent. The request for this information may bereceived at a web server 232 that provides an easy-to-use interface thatcan be used to forward the individual's telephone number for inclusioninto a notification list. Indicating consent can be accomplished by theuser typing in their name in an appropriate location with appropriateindications.

For each communication approach that a customer may use to provideconsent to the enterprise 230, the enterprise 230 may maintain a digitalrecord of the consent provided. With regard to email, completing a webpage, or sending a SMS message, the data itself can be easily retainedas an electronic record. For example, a customer completing a web pageindicating their name, telephone number, and selecting a check boxauthorizing receipt of future communications is evidence the userprovided electronic consent. The consent can be retained in differentformats. For the IVR or voice system, voice conversations with an agentor keypad responses provided to an IVR can be digitally recorded and/oranalyzed as evidence of consent. For other forms, paper forms or letterscan be scanned into any number of the well known file formats, such asJPEG or PDF files, and stored as digital image files. Each instance ofelectronic consent can be treated as a distinct electronic consent file,or they can be records within a single consent file.

With each electronic consent data file it is necessary to definecorresponding electronic consent metadata (“metadata”). This metadataprovides information about various aspects of the electronic consentdata, including the individual it is associated with, when theelectronic consent was obtained, how the electronic consent wasreceived, etc. The metadata is linked to each corresponding electronicconsent data file, allowing retrieval and review of the electronicconsent data files. In one embodiment, the metadata includes a telephonenumber, so that verification of electronic consent can be easilyretrieved and verified using the individual's telephone number. Themetadata can serve as an index to retrieve the electronic consent datafile, and may include other information, such as the individual's name,address, etc.

While each of the server/systems 231, 232, 234, 236, 237, and 238 mayretain a copy of, or a link to, the electronic consent data file in adatabase, having each server/system retain a copy means that the variousinstances of electronic consent data files are maintained in adistributed manner throughout the enterprise. Auditing a user's consentis complicated by having to check with the various systems that must beexamined to ensure that an accurate summary is determined. It becomesdifficult to manage a logical set of data when it is stored andindependently managed on distinct systems. Further, updating the consent(e.g., to withdraw consent) is difficult when multiple data stores aremaintained.

It is preferable to have a central repository of electronic consentrecords. To simplify record keeping and other related functions, eachenterprise system 231-238 may provide a copy of the electronic consentdata it receives to an electronic consent database 252. The electronicconsent database 252 is a central repository and is able to store,index, and retrieve the electronic consent in various forms, including,but not limited to: scanned image files, voice recordings, text, HTML,email, etc.

The electronic consent database 252 may be operated by a hosted listservice provider 250 as opposed to an enterprise. The hosted listservice provider 250 can offer the list management services for variousenterprises, and it can provide a common, single repository forelectronic consent for the enterprise 230. Because the list serviceprovider provides a computer service to the enterprise, it can bereferred to as “hosted.” Thus, typically a network service is used totransmit the data from the enterprise 230 to the hosted list serviceprovider 250. When referring to a “list management provider” herein,this refers to an entity that can provide the services either on afee-for service basis (and is then considered a hosted list serviceprovider) or internal to a call center or enterprise (which may not beon a fee-for service basis). The hosted list service provider canprovide efficient storage, retrieval, and updating of the electronicconsent. Further, other economies of scale can be provided, as thehosted list service provider can “scrub” the data using other databases.As will be seen, the contents of the electronic consent database need tobe harmonized with other databases which may indicate other restrictionsassociated with the telephone number. For example, the data can bechecked or identified as being a wireline or wireless number. Thisbecomes important as individuals may port their wireline number to theirwireless number.

Although not shown in FIG. 2, there may be a number of differentlocations associated with a single enterprise, or multiple distinct anddiverse enterprises, that provide electronic consent data to the hostedlist service provider 250. The hosted list service provider 250 may bebased on a cloud computing platform that provides a reliable, centrallyidentifiable, database for the enterprise. Simply maintaining a centralrepository for a location of the enterprise 230 may not be sufficient toaccess electronic consent for the overall enterprise, since manyenterprises have multiple locations which can receive customerauthorization. If each enterprise location has its own centralrepository, then the issue of managing multiple databases still exists.The hosted list service provider may render an invoice of the fee forits service to the enterprise, which can be computed based on the numberof telephone numbers involved, storage capacity required, etc. Thehosted list service provider may also provide value added services ofverifying telephone numbers against other databases, such as state orfederal do-not-call (“DNC”) databases or wireless number lists.

The hosted list service provider 250 is well positioned to compare thetelephone numbers in the electronic consent database received from anenterprise 230 with telephone numbers in the DNC databases, which may beperiodically updated. For example, if an individual has previouslyrequested that their telephone number should be included in a DNCdatabase, and then later explicitly provides written consent to anenterprise for receiving calls, the fact that the written consent wasprovided subsequently can be interpreted as the individual authorizescalls from that enterprise, but not other entities. On the other hand,if the individual subsequently requests their telephone number to beincluded in a DNC database after having explicitly provided writtenconsent, then that could be interpreted as having withdrawn all priorexpress written consent. The user's intentions may be based on how andwhen they are made. For example, an individual may update a state DNClist by communicating with a state agency, not realizing that this maypreclude receiving communication from an enterprise in that state thatthe user does want to receive. In this case, the hosted list serviceprovider 250 could inform the enterprise 230 of this occurrence, and theenterprise could contact the individual to clarify the authorizationstatus. It would be beneficial for the enterprise to be able to contactthe individual and then reinstate express consent for futurecommunications. The enterprise may contact the individual using atelephone call by an agent, or an automatically dialed call with an IVRto verify the status. In some embodiments, the hosted list serviceprovider may maintain an email database which may include an email orSMS address for the individual. Thus, for example, an email could betransmitted to the individual as another approach for reestablishing orconfirming electronic consent in such a circumstance, where the emailmay not be subject to the same regulations governing calls.

Although FIG. 2 depicts the enterprise 230 providing the electronicconsent data directly to the electronic consent database 252, the hostedlist service provider 250 may require the electronic consent data to beprovided to the call center through a front end system (“front end”) 254(this arrangement is not depicted in FIG. 2). The front end 254 mayincorporate various interfaces for receiving and transmitting queries,responses, and files, as discussed below.

The hosted list service provider 250 can store the electronic consent inthe electronic consent database 252, and can also maintain, in oneembodiment, a separate database of telephone numbers (“TN”) in a TN listdatabase 255. The TN list comprises a list of telephone numbersassociated with the electronic consent, but may not contain all theinformation found in the electronic consent database. Frequently, the TNlist, not the electronic consent data, is provided to the call centerfor performing the calling campaign. Although FIG. 2 shows the TN listas a separate list from the electronic consent database 252, the TN listcan be stored in the same database and/or other structure as theelectronic consent database 252 by the hosted list service provider 250.In some embodiments, the electronic consent data may also be provided tothe call center. The TN list may comprise a subset of the metadata ofthe electronic consent data used by the call center to perform callorigination. This TN list may be generated by processing the metadatafrom the electronic consent, or may be populated by other means. Becauseof the linkage maintained between the electronic consent and thetelephone number, it is possible for the hosted list service provider toeasily verify the corresponding electronic consent for each telephonenumber in the TN list.

The hosted list service provider may make available, or provide, thetelephone numbers in the TN list to the call center in different ways.In one embodiment, the TN list may be transmitted to the call center 270as a file. This type of arrangement “pushes” the TN list to the callcenter, which stores the TN list in the data store 175. The call center270 can then originate calls using the telephone numbers as defined bythe calling campaign parameters. Alternately, groups of TN lists can beperiodically transmitted to the call center (e.g., those required foreach day of operation).

In another embodiment, the call center 270 may query the hosted listservice provider on an “as needed” basis. This could be, for example,prior to initiating each call. The dialer 150 could launch a query tothe front end 254 for each originating call. In other embodiments, thedialer may launch a query for a group of numbers prior to initiation, orfor the entire day's file. This type of arrangement “pulls” numbers fromthe hosted list service provider 250 as needed and allows the callcenter 270 to obtain the appropriate telephone number information inreal-time. This approach allows the hosted list service provider toprovide an up to date status of telephone numbers.

In either the “push” or “pull” arrangement, the telephone numbers aretransmitted from the hosted list service provider to the call center viaa front end 254. The front end 254 can process queries in the “pull”data access arrangement, and perform various gate keeping functions.These functions include verifying that an allowed source (e.g., callcenter) is authorized to access and request the TN list from the hostedlist service provider and ensures the rate of access is within allowedlimits. For example, if a query is made for each TN prior toorigination, a maximum rate at which queries can originate may bemonitored. If the request is made for an entire TN list, thenappropriate verification is required to ensure that the TN list can beprovided to that call center. Because various call centers may bereceiving numbers from the same hosted list service provider, each callcenter must be identifiable and must receive the appropriate TN list.Thus, each list may be associated with a particular call center, and acampaign in that call center.

Once the call center 270 receives the numbers, these can be cached orotherwise stored in the call center's data store 175, or within the mainmemory of the dialer 150. The dialer 150 can then use the telephonenumber to originate an outgoing call using, e.g., trunks 275 connectedto the PSTN 115. Although the calls may originate using trunks, thisshould not be construed as limiting the type of access that can be usedby the dialer 150. In other embodiments, the call can be a SMS messageaddressed to the (wireless) telephone number that is based onpre-recorded message content.

The dialer 150 can automatically dial a pre-recorded voice call and playa message. In various embodiments, the called party may be connected toan IVR 135 for further interaction, in a manner that is well known tothose skilled in the art. Furthermore, in some embodiments, the callermay choose to opt-out from receiving further pre-recorded calls. If theuser elects to opt out, that information may be recorded by the IVR andcopied into the data store 175, along with other call progressinformation that occurred. In other embodiments, the called party mayspeak to an agent. Typically, a log of call progress information ismaintained for each of the dialed calls of a campaign, including whetheran opt-out indication was received from the called party. This log istypically stored in a call log database that provides information aboutthe call, including when it was made and the outcome.

The opt-out information comprises an indication associated with atelephone number which the call center may report back to the hostedlist service provider 250. The opt-out information is relevant tomanaging the TN list database 255. Specifically, called parties thatopt-out from such calls are noted so that subsequent calls are not madeto that party.

The front end 254 is involved in ensuring that the opt-out numbers areproperly processed from the call center. Thus, the front end 254 ensuresthat the call center 270 is authorized to indicate the information formodifying the TN list. Once the front end 254 receives the information,it updates the TN list in the TN list database 255. The front end 254may also update the electronic consent database to update the metadatato reflect that the electronic consent is no longer valid. In someembodiments, a record of the opt-out request can be stored, along withthe date, time, and campaign for which it occurred with by the hostedlist service provider. In some instances, the opt-out request only isfor a particular enterprise.

The hosted list service provider may also provide access to theelectronic consent database 252 by an administrator, regulator,enterprise, or other third party. Access may be provided to a computer285, which can access the electronic consent database 252 or the TN listdatabase 255. In one embodiment, a graphical user interface is providedthat allows the computer operator to request to view the electronicconsent information for a given telephone number. The front end system254 processes the information and retrieves the appropriate record, andprovides the result to the computer for display. The information can beprovided in a form that is appropriate for the consent data stored,e.g., as a web page, a PDF file, text string, or voice recording, whichcan be played back using any one of the well known media players orviewing programs at the computer 285. Thus, third party verification ofthe electronic consent data is readily possible.

Reports can be generated by the hosted list service provider detailingsummaries of the disposition of each telephone number in a TN list. Thisincludes when and to whom the TN list was provided and after completionof the calling campaign by a call center, how many of the telephonenumbers resulted in an opt-out and when. These reports can be obtainedor provided to the enterprise, regulatory agencies, or a third party. Inother embodiments, agents of the call center 270 are able to retrievethe electronic consent data directly, and are able to deliver it to athird party computer, e.g., in an email, if requested.

Additional aspects of managing electronic consent are detailed in theaforementioned co-pending patent applications.

Quick Response Codes

Quick response (“QR”) codes are two dimensional barcodes which canencode information. Typically, a camera-equipped mobile smart phone“reads” the QR code by executing an appropriate mobile application.There are various standard or proprietary forms of two-dimensionalbarcodes, and for illustrations purposes, the two-dimensional barcodeknown as a QR code is used to illustrate the concepts herein, since thisis a common format.

QR codes can indicate an action to be performed by the mobile phone anddata to be used in performing that action. The actions include: storingcontact information, processing a calendar event, creating an email,indicating a telephone number to dial, providing geo-locationinformation to an application, sending an SMS message, displaying text,logging onto a Wi-Fi network, and other actions. In many embodiments,the smart phone mobile application is designed so that user input may berequired before completing the action that operates using the data. Forexample, the QR code can load data for initiating a telephone call orsending an SMS message, but the mobile application will request userconfirmation before doing so. This is considered by some to be apreferred design in some instances as opposed to automaticallyoriginating the phone call or sending the SMS message. This iscontrolled by the application, however.

More specifically, when reading a QR code for sending an SMS message,the QR code can convey the destination address (e.g., the mobiletelephone number or a short code) that is to be used, and pre-populatethe contents of the text portion of the SMS message. Thus, the user doesnot have to enter this information in the text body, which avoids theuser accidentally mistyping the information or incorrectly completingthe information.

Turning now to FIG. 3, an example of a QR code 300 is illustrated. ThisQR code can be generated using various readily available softwareprograms. To generate the code, an action can be selected and theappropriate data entered, and the QR code is generated, which can becopied, printed, etc. In this embodiment, the QR code indicates theaction that generates an SMS digital text message. The QR code alsoindicates data to be used, which is the destination telephone number305, which in this embodiment is 404 851-1331. The data furthercomprises the text portion or body of the SMS message 310, which is“Please have someone call to tell me more information about the newWidget product.” In other embodiments, the request could indicate aspecific form communication or the return time for the communication(e.g., “please have someone telephone me at 2:00 p.m.” or “please havesomeone text me”). The application and the information requested cangreatly vary, and may provide healthcare related information, productsupport information, promotional information, discount information,coupons, special offers, travel reservations information, etc.

Although not shown in FIG. 3, the contents of the QR code may includeother context information that is specific to an individual. Forexample, if the QR code is printed on a prescription bottle for JohnDoe, the message could be encoded to state: “Please have someone callme, John Doe at 404 555-1212, to confirm when my prescription refillwill be available.” Note that the telephone number in this text is notthe same as the destination telephone number 305, which is thedestination telephone number of where the text message is to be sent.The telephone number in the text is provided in the data from the QRcode, and could have been obtained from e.g., a pharmacy prescriptionrefill system along with the name of the individual and other contextualinformation. In other contexts, a security code could be embedded whichcan be used to aid the recipient in identifying and verifying the senderor the context of the communication. In this embodiment, the use of theQR code is not for a promotional application, but for a healthcareinformational application.

Overview of Message Flow

Various embodiments of using QR codes to provide electronic consentinformation are discussed below in conjunction with FIGS. 4A-4C. Thesefigures illustrate variations as to how information associated with a QRcode can be received at different entities, and how this information maybe used to update the various components. Further variations arepossible, and those skilled in the art will be able to develop furthervariations in light of the present disclosure and the disclosure of theaforementioned patent applications.

Turning to FIG. 4A, a system 400 is disclosed that comprises theenterprise 230 previously introduced in FIG. 2, albeit in a simplerdiagrammatic form, as is call center 270. The electronic consentdatabase 252 that was also previously discussed is shown as well. Thecontact information database 425 represents information regardingindividuals that have requested follow up communications (e.g., thoseindividuals that have provided electronic consent). The contents of thecontact information database 425 may be similar with respect to theelectronic consent database 252, as will be seem from the discussionbelow. In some embodiments, the records in the database can becomma-separated-values.

FIG. 4A illustrates a marketing/advertiser 420 that can develop, define,and deploy an advertising campaign. The marketing/advertiser 420 candefine the content of the advertising campaign, define the deploymentmeans, arrange for advertising materials to be generated, and distributethe printed materials. This could be performed by the enterprise 230,but in many cases a third party marketing/advertiser 420 is used. Themarketing/advertiser 420 may enlist the services of others, such as apublisher, promoter, etc. The advertising materials can comprise variousforms, including printed media, television, billboards, cards,brochures, direct mailings, etc. One form shown in FIG. 4A is printedadvertising material 405, which could be for example, an advertisementin a magazine. The printed material has indicia representing the QR code410.

The process flow operations are numbered based on information that canbe transmitted. The logical operations described herein can beimplemented as a sequence of computer implemented acts or as one or moreprogram modules running on a computing system and/or as interconnectedmachine logic circuits or circuit modules within a computing system. Theimplementation is a matter of choice dependent on the performance andother requirements of the computing system. Accordingly, the logicaloperations described herein are referred to variously as states,operations, acts, or modules. These operations, acts, or modules may beimplemented in software, in firmware, in special purpose digital logic,and any combination thereof. Greater or fewer operations may beperformed than shown in the figures and described herein. Theseoperations may also be performed in a different order than thosedescribed herein.

The first step 1 occurs when the marketing advertiser generates anddistributes the printed material 405 bearing the QR code 410. Theprinted material 405 can be distributed to the public in general, or toa target audience using various delivery mechanisms. A user that istargeted (not shown) is presumed to be operating a camera-equippedmobile phone 110 c used to read the QR code 410 in the second step 2.This results in the information encoded in the QR code 410 to beprocessed by the mobile phone 110 c.

As noted before, the QR code 410 can be used to convey an action anddata, where the data is used in conjunction with performing the action.In this embodiment, the action is populating an SMS message. Theinformation could be as indicated as shown in FIG. 3. Namely, adestination telephone number may be indicated along with text for themessage body using the QR code 410. The mobile application may beprogrammed to obtain user input to confirm the sending of the message,or may initiate the SMS message without confirmation.

Step three 3 results in the SMS message transmitted to the enterprise230. The infrastructure required to transmit the SMS message is notshown, and the destination telephone number is used by the SMSinfrastructure to route the message in a manner well known to thoseskilled in the art of SMS messaging. In other embodiments, the messagecould be addressed using an SMS short code.

The enterprise 230 may have various campaigns in progress. In oneembodiment, the calling campaign may be determined by using a uniquedestination telephone number for each calling campaign. Thus, onedestination telephone number identifies a corresponding calling campaignand another destination telephone number identifies another callingcampaign. However, since the printed material 405 may exist longer thanthe campaign, and could be read for several months or years after firstproduced, the advertiser may be required to dedicate the destinationtelephone number for that campaign for some time. Further, there may bea number of calling campaigns in progress, and this may requireallocating a number of telephone numbers, one for each calling campaign.In another approach, a single destination number can be used, and thetext in the SMS body is used to identify the particular campaign. Thetext could be processed for examining, e.g., a keyword, phrase,sentence, or code. In this manner, multiple campaigns could overlap andshare the same destination telephone number. It would be more efficientwith respect to telephone number allocation to simply ensure that theSMS text body is unique for each advertising campaign, and hence foreach calling campaign. However, either approach may be used to determinethe calling campaign.

Once the enterprise 230 knows what calling campaign the message isassociated with, the enterprise may record this information in a contactinformation database 425 in step four 4. The contact informationdatabase 425 could be, for example, a database that stores each user'sinitiated SMS message. The contact information database 425 may storethe SMS message, including the received date or the current date, andthe associated campaign. The campaign may be identified by a campaignidentifier. The campaign identifier could be, e.g., a name or a numberuniquely associated with the campaign.

The enterprise 230 could also perform step five 5, which is to provide acopy of the text message to the electronic consent database 252. Thisdatabase may be a distinct from the contact information database 425.The electronic consent database 252 may be restricted as to access orother permissions. The electronic consent database 252 can be used andretrieved to demonstrate compliance with various communicationregulations, whereas the contact information database 425 may be usedfor marketing intelligence, and monitoring the effectiveness of thecampaign. Further additional information may be stored in the records ofone database relative to the other.

The enterprise 230 may also provide the originating telephone number tothe call center 270 in step six 6, along with a campaign identifier, tocontact the individual. As a matter of course, the call center 270 mayconsult the electronic consent database 252 in step seven 7 to confirmthat electronic consent is present for the individual prior tooriginating a call back. The electronic consent database 252 may accepta query for an indicated telephone number, along with an optionalenterprise identifier, and provide an indication whether electronicconsent is present for the indicated telephone number and/or for thatenterprise. In various embodiments, the electronic consent database maystore various campaigns, and various enterprise identifiers, so thatmere indication of a target telephone number may not be sufficient toindicate whether electronic consent exists or not. For example, theindividual associated with the telephone number may have providedelectronic consent for company A, but not for company B. Thus, torespond to a query, the electronic consent database requires thetelephone number and enterprise identifier to respond with an indicationof whether electronic consent is on record from that individual.

After confirmation, the call center 270 is able to initiate the callback to the individual. Preferably, the call center 270 calls back themobile phone 110 c in a timely manner in step eight 8. In someembodiments, the return call can be within minutes from when the mobilephone sent the SMS message in step three.

The contact information database 425 maintains information about who hassent a communication in response to reading a QR code. This informationmay be accessed by the marketing/advertiser 420 to determine theeffectiveness of a particular campaign. For example, an enterprise 230may have two simultaneous print advertising campaigns directed to thesame product, and the responses stored in the contact informationdatabase 425 can be used to determine which print media campaign (eachhaving a unique QR code) was more effective. The access by themarketing/advertiser 420 with the contact information database 425 isshown at step nine 9. It should be recognized that the steps above canvary from the order presented, and not all steps are required to beperformed in the order disclosed.

FIG. 4B illustrates a variation that can occur with respect to the abovesteps. In FIG. 4B, the same components are illustrated, but with adifferent order of the interaction and messaging. Starting with step one1, the marketing/advertiser 420 causes a printed QR code 410 to be madeavailable on a printed material 405. The user (not shown) operating themobile phone 110 c, reads the QR code 410 in step two 2. The encodedinformation is now processed in the mobile phone, and comprises thedestination address and the text body of an SMS message. In step three3, the SMS message is transmitted.

In this embodiment, the SMS message is copied into the contactinformation database 425. This may be operated or controlled by theenterprise 230, or may be operated and controlled by themarketing/advertiser 420. In other embodiments, this database could beoperated or controlled by the call center 270.

The contact information database 425 then in step four 4 notifies thecall center of the electronic consent received from the mobile phone 110c. The call center 270 is responsible for updating the electronicconsent database 252 and does so in step five 5. In this embodiment, thecall center 270 maintains the electronic consent database 252 on behalfof the enterprise. Consequently, the call center 270 already knows thatelectronic consent for that telephone number was received, and the callcenter 270 does not have to then initiate a per-call query to theelectronic consent database 252 to verify that consent was received. Thecall center 270 in step six 6 then initiates the voice call back to themobile phone 110 c. As in the prior case, the marketing/advertiser 420can monitor the status of the contact information database in step seven7.

Another variation of the message flow is shown in FIG. 4C. In thisembodiment, as will be seen, the QR code 410 does not cause a textmessage to be generated from the mobile phone 110 c, but is encoded tocause the mobile phone to dial a telephone number, and the encoded dataindicates the telephone number to dial. As before, step one 1 involvesproviding a printed publication with indicia of the QR code 410. Themobile phone 110 c reads the QR code in step two 2. This results in themobile phone 110 c dialing a voice call in step three 3 to the callcenter 270.

Upon receipt of the call, the call center 270 may provide in step four 4information about the call, including the calling (or originating)telephone number, the called (or destination) telephone number, and thetime and date, to the contact information database 425. The call centermay also provide the same or similar information to the electronicconsent database 252. The call center 270 can answer the call, and anagent can speak with the caller. If no agent is available to answer thecall, the caller may be prompted by an IVR to leave a message, and acall back in step six 6 is performed at a later time.

FIG. 4C illustrates that the QR code 410 can be used to initiate atelephone call. Other embodiments, which are not shown, include usingthe QR code 410 to send an email from the mobile phone 110 c. In otherembodiments, the QR code 410 will cause text to be displayed to the userproviding them instructions for the number to dial, a context code toenter, or other actions to perform. The call center, upon receipt of thecommunication, records data reflective of the electronic consent in theelectronic consent database 252.

The processing that occurs in the call center 270 is dependent on theparticular message flow as describe above. One embodiment of theprocessing flow that the call center may perform is shown in FIG. 5.This embodiment is relevant to the mobile phone sending an SMS messagethat is received by the call center.

The process 500 begins with operation 505 in which electronic consent isreceived from the mobile phone. The electronic consent can be in theform of an SMS message and can comprise a text body portion, but otherforms may be used, such as email. In operation 510, the call centerstores information about the instance of contact in a contactinformation database. This can be used for various purposes, such asmaintaining potential customer contact information, managing data tomeasure the effectiveness of the advertising campaign, etc.

In operation 520, information is stored in an electronic consentdatabase. In some embodiments, the electronic consent database could beintegrated with the contact information database. In this embodiment,two distinct databases are used. Thus, the electronic consent databaseis used for only storing electronic consent related information. Thiscould include e.g., the SMS message itself, along with metadataindicating the originating telephone number, the destination telephonenumber, time of day, etc.

In operation 525, the call center examines the SMS message to determinethe campaign the SMS message is associated with. This can be done byanalyzing the destination number, the contents of the text portion ofthe SMS message, or both. For example, the text of the SMS message mayuniquely identify a campaign, and the text can be parsed to determinethe campaign the SMS message is associated with. In another embodiment,a campaign code could be embedded within the SMS text body. For example,the message received could state: “Please have someone call me backabout your new widget product. Campaign code 1234.” The identificationof the campaign can be accomplished in various ways. Typically, acampaign identifier is determined from the SMS message with theidentifier being an alphanumeric identifier. Other forms may be strictlynumeric.

Once the calling campaign is identified, then in operation 530 thecampaign information can be retrieved. This includes information aboutthe product involved, agent scripts to be presented to an agent, howcall metrics are to be processed, etc. This may be done by the ACD,dialer, or CTI server, or other component in the call center. Thecampaign information, including potentially the contents of the SMSmessage, can be displayed to the agent on their workstation. Inoperation 535, the call back to the originating party is initiated. Atthe same time, operation 540 may occur, which displays the relevantcampaign information on the selected agent's computer. These operationscan occur in different order than presented above, and furtheroperations may be involved.

After the call back is completed, the agent then completes the necessarypost-call processing, which may include providing a call dispositioncode as to the status of the call back. This information may be providedto the contact information database in operation 545 to provide furtherinformation about the call and allows further measurement of theeffectiveness of the campaign. However, this call status does not haveto be provided to the electronic consent database 252.

Data Structure

The data structure generated by the call center (or other component asappropriate) and stored in the contact information database and/or theelectronic consent database is discussed next. As noted above, some ofthe information in the two databases may be the same. However, thecontact information database may store additional information formarketing analysis, which is not germane to the electronic consentdatabase. For example, the call disposition code may not be relevant forelectronic consent, but may be important for ascertaining the marketingcampaign effectiveness. Thus, the data structure shown in FIG. 6 is onlyillustrative, and more or less information would be present whenexamining the data elements for either of the contact informationdatabase or the electronic consent database.

In FIG. 6, the data structure 600 is shown as comprising variouscolumns. The first column 605 is a URL, link, or pointer to theelectronic consent data itself. In some embodiments, the electronicconsent data itself could be stored, but in this embodiment, a link isprovided to that data. The link structure can accommodate identifyingvarious forms, including, e.g., voice recordings, emails, scannedimages, text messages, facsimiles, etc. If the consent were limited to,e.g., SMS messages, then the message itself could be stored in the firstcolumn.

The second column 610 indicates the form of the electronic consent,which is only required if there is more than one format. In thisembodiment, the electronic consent could be at least either in a SMSform or a voice form. The next column 615 is the originating address,which may be a telephone number, from which the consent is received. Ifthe consent is in SMS form, then this column indicates the originatingtelephone number in the SMS message. If the consent was provided via avoice recording (as a result of the caller originating a voice call),then the telephone number would set equal to the calling party number or“ANI” (automatic number identification) associated with the incomingcall.

The fourth column 620 is the date the electronic consent was received.This value may be used to set an expiration date for the electronicconsent, which can be set to automatically expire. For example, in oneembodiment the electronic consent can be set to expire three monthsafter receipt, or in another embodiment, five years from receipt. Thiscan be done by the same system component that wrote the data into thedatabase, or a date could be added into the record indicating theexpiration date.

The fifth column 625 records a campaign identifier, which can be used toidentify the campaign for which the consent was obtained. This could beunique to an enterprise, or may include information that explicitlyidentifies the enterprise (such as an enterprise identifier) or otheridentifier which links the campaign to the enterprise.

In other embodiments, different or additional columns may be used todefine data that is stored. For example, if the data structure 600 wasused in a contact information database, then call dispositioninformation may be stored. However, if the data structure 600 was for anelectronic consent database, then call disposition information may notbe stored.

The example shows three rows 650, 660, 670, which illustrate differentrecords that may be generated by the call center. The first row 650provides an identifier for linking to the electronic consent, which isin SMS format and was generated from the originating telephone number404 555-1212. This was received by the call center on 3-1-2012 (Mar. 1,2012), and was received in association with campaign 4125. This valuemay be used to identify the enterprise. The second row 660 also reflectsreceipt of an SMS form of electronic consent. The third row 670 reflectsthat the electronic consent was provided in voice form, and the link infirst column provides a URL to the voice recording. The campaignidentifier in this row (which is different relative to the first tworows) can be used to identify which enterprise the voice consent wasprovided in regard to.

Various data structures can be defined in light of the above, and FIG. 6represents only one embodiment of how electronic consent may berecorded, referenced, and retrieved to ensure compliance with variouscommunication regulations. Those skilled in the art will be able todefine various other formats in light of the present disclosure.

Exemplary Computer Processing Device Architecture

As discussed in conjunction with FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the call centerarchitecture 100 may comprise various components, such as servers, frontend, databases, that comprise a processing system. FIG. 7 is anexemplary schematic diagram of a computer processing system that may beused in an embodiment of the call center architecture to practice thetechnologies disclosed herein. FIG. 7 provides an exemplary schematic ofa processing system 700, which could represent individually or incombination, for example, the ACD 130, CTI server 145, dialer 150, frontend 254, TN list database 255, electronic consent database 252, or othercomponent previously described. In general, the term “processing system”may be exemplified by, for example, but without limitation: a personalcomputer, server, desktop computer, tablets, smart phones, notebooks,laptops, distributed systems, servers, blades, gateways, switches, andthe like, as well as any combination of devices or entities adapted toperform the functions described herein.

As shown in FIG. 7, the processing system 700 may include one or moreprocessors 710 that may communicate with other elements within theprocessing system 700 via a bus 705. The processor 710 may beimplemented as one or more complex programmable logic devices (“CPLD”),microprocessors, multi-core processors, digital signal processors(“DSP”), system-on-a-chip (“SOC”), co-processing entities,application-specific integrated circuits (“ASIC”), field programmablegate arrays (“FPGA”), programmable logic arrays (“PLA”), hardwareaccelerators, other circuitry, or the like.

In one embodiment, the processing system 700 may also include one ormore communications interfaces 720 for communicating data via the localnetwork 170 with various external devices, such as other components ofFIG. 1. In other embodiments, communication may be via wired, optical,or wireless networks (or a combination thereof). The communication mayuse a variety of data transmission protocols, such as fiber distributeddata interface (FDDI), Ethernet, asynchronous transfer mode (“ATM”), orframe relay.

The input/output controller 730 may also communicate with one or moreinput devices or peripherals using an interface 735, such as, but notlimited to: a keyboard, a mouse, a touch screen/display input,microphone, pointing device, etc. The input/output controller 730 mayalso communicate with output devices or peripherals, such as displays,printers, speakers, headsets, banner displays, etc.

The processor 710 may be configured to execute instructions stored involatile memory 740, non-volatile memory 750, or other forms of computerreadable storage media accessible to the processor 710. The volatilememory may comprise various types of memory technologies, including, butnot limited to: random access memory (“RAM”), dynamic random accessmemory (“DRAM”), static random access memory (“SRAM”), and other formswell known to those skilled in the art. The non-volatile memory maycomprise various technologies, including, but not limited to: storagemedia such as hard disks, floppy disks, read only memory (“ROM”),programmable read only memory (“PROM”), electrically erasable read onlymemory (“EPROM”), flash memory, and other forms well known to thoseskilled in the art.

The non-volatile memory 750 may store program code and data, which alsomay be loaded into the volatile memory 740 at execution time.Specifically, the non-volatile memory 750 may store one or moreelectronic consent management program modules 753 and/or operatingsystem code 752 containing instructions for performing the processand/or functions associated with the technologies disclosed herein. Theelectronic consent management program modules 753 may also access,generate, or store data 755, such as the aforementioned records anddata, in the non-volatile memory 750, as well as in the volatile memory740. The volatile memory and/or non-volatile memory may be used to storeother information including, but not limited to: records, applications,programs, scripts, source code, object code, byte code, compiled code,interpreted code, machine code, executable instructions, or the like.These may be executed or processed by, for example, processor 710. Thesemay form a part of, or may interact with, the electronic consentmanagement program modules 753.

The technologies described herein may be implemented in various ways,including as computer program products comprising memory storinginstructions causing a processor to perform the operations associatedwith the above technologies. The computer program product may comprise anon-transitory computer readable storage medium storing applications,programs, program modules, scripts, source code, program code, objectcode, byte code, compiled code, interpreted code, machine code,executable instructions, and/or the like (also referred to herein asexecutable instructions, instructions for execution, program code,and/or similar terms). Such non-transitory computer readable storagemedia include all the above identified media (including volatile andnon-volatile media), but does not include a transitory, propagatingsignal. Non-volatile computer readable storage medium may specificallycomprise: a floppy disk, flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape,compact disc read only memory (“CD-ROM”), compact disc compactdisc-rewritable (“CD-RW”), digital versatile disc (“DVD”), Blu-ray™ disc(“BD”), any other non-transitory optical medium, and/or the like.Non-volatile computer readable storage medium may also compriseread-only memory (“ROM”), programmable read-only memory (“PROM”),erasable programmable read-only memory (“EPROM”), electrically erasableprogrammable read-only memory (“EEPROM”), flash memory, and/or othertechnologies known to those skilled in the art.

CONCLUSION

Many modifications and other embodiments of the concepts andtechnologies set forth herein will come to mind to one skilled in theart having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoingdescriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is to beunderstood that embodiments other than the embodiments disclosed hereinare intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims.Although specific terms may be employed herein, they are used in ageneric and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A non-transitory, computer-readable mediumstoring computer-executable instructions thereon that when executed by acomputer processor cause the computer processor to: receive a messageconveying consent for receiving at least one subsequent communication,wherein the message is sent in response to a device reading a twodimensional barcode (“2D Barcode”) provided on an advertisementassociated with an advertising campaign and the message identifies theadvertising campaign; identify an originating telephone numberassociated with the message; store a received date indicating when themessage was received as proof of receiving the consent; receive arequest for proof of the consent from a computer processing system,wherein the request is associated with the originating telephone number;and in response to receiving the request: compare the originatingtelephone number to a list of do-not-call telephone numbers; in responseto the originating telephone number matching one of the do-not-calltelephone numbers on the list, determine whether the received date islater than a second date on which the do-not-call telephone numbermatching the originating telephone number was added to the list; and inresponse to determining the received date is later than the second date,provide verification of the consent to the computer processing system.2. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein theadvertising campaign is uniquely associated with an enterprise.
 3. Thenon-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein thesubsequent communication is a short message service message sent to thedevice.
 4. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 1,wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the computerprocessor to set an expiration date of the consent.
 5. A method formanaging consent for receiving at least one subsequent communicationprovided by an individual, the method comprising: receiving a messageconveying consent for receiving the at least one subsequentcommunication, wherein the message is sent in response to the individualusing a device to read a two dimensional barcode (“2D Barcode”) providedon an advertisement associated with an advertising campaign and themessage identifies the advertising campaign; identifying an originatingtelephone number associated with the message by a computer processor;storing in memory a received date indicating when the message wasreceived as proof of receiving the consent; receiving a request forproof of the consent by the computer processor, wherein the requestoriginates from a call center and is associated with the originatingtelephone number; and in response to receiving the request: comparingthe originating telephone number to a list of do-not-call telephonenumbers by the computer processor; in response to the originatingtelephone number matching one of the do-not-call telephone numbers onthe list, determining by the computer processor whether the receiveddate is later than a second date on which the do-not-call telephonenumber matching the originating telephone number was added to the list;and in response to determining the received date is later than thesecond date, provide verification of the consent to the call center. 6.The method of claim 5, wherein the subsequent communication is a shortmessage service message sent to the device.
 7. The method of claim 5further comprising setting an expiration date of the consent by thecomputer processor.
 8. A system for recording consent received from anindividual for receiving at least one subsequent communicationcomprising: memory; and a processor configured to: receive a messageconveying consent for receiving the at least one subsequentcommunication, wherein the message is sent in response to the individualusing a device to read a two dimensional barcode (“2D Barcode”) providedon an advertisement associated with an advertising campaign and themessage identifies the advertising campaign; identify an originatingtelephone number associated with the message; store in the memory areceived date indicating when the message was received as proof ofreceiving the consent; receive a request for proof of the consent from asecond system, wherein the request is associated with the originatingtelephone number; and in response to receiving the request: compare theoriginating telephone number to a list of do-not-call telephone numbers;in response to the originating telephone number matching one of thedo-not-call telephone numbers on the list, determine whether thereceived date is later than a second date on which the do-not-calltelephone number matching the originating telephone number was added tothe list; and in response to determining the received date is later thanthe second date, provide verification of the consent to the secondsystem.
 9. The system of claim 8, wherein the subsequent communicationis a short message service message sent to the device.
 10. The system ofclaim 8, wherein the computer processor is further configured to set anexpiration date of the consent.